PURCHASING
The Office supports small business participation in the Commonwealth Government procurement market. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and Small Enterprise participation statistics are available on the Department of Finance’s website, www.finance.gov.au/procurement.

The Office is committed to the continued development and support of Indigenous businesses, under the Commonwealth Indigenous Procurement Policy.

All procurement and purchasing activities conducted by the Office were in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.

CONSULTANTS
During 2019–20, four new consultancy contracts were entered into, involving total actual expenditure of $65,700 (GST exclusive). In addition, two ongoing consultancy contracts were active during the period, involving total actual expenditure of $58,252.29 (GST exclusive).

The Office maintains internal policies and procedures which require selection and engagement of all consultants to be conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. The main purpose for which consultants were engaged in 2019–20 was to obtain specialist expertise not available within the Office due to its small size.

Annual reports provide actual expenditure on contracts and consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website, www.tenders.gov.au.

ANAO ACCESS CLAUSES
No contracts for greater than $100,000 were entered into during the reporting period that did not provide for the Auditor-General to have access to the contractor’s premises.

EXEMPT CONTRACTS
No contracts were entered into during the reporting period that have been exempt from publishing on AusTender.

DISABILITY REPORTING MECHANISM
The National Disability Strategy 2010–2020 is Australia’s overarching framework for disability reform. It acts to ensure the principles underpinning the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are incorporated into Australia’s policies and programs that affect people with disability, their families and carers.

All levels of government will continue to be held accountable for the implementation of the strategy through biennial progress reporting to the Council of Australian Governments. Progress reports can be found at www.dss.gov.au. Disability reporting is included in the APS Commission’s State of the Service reports and the APS Statistical Bulletin. These reports are available at www.apsc.gov.au.

INFORMATION PUBLICATION SCHEME
Entities subject to the FOI Act are required to publish information to the public as part of the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). This requirement is in Part II of the FOI Act and has replaced the former requirement to publish a s 8 statement in an annual report. Each agency must display on its website a plan showing what information it publishes in accordance with the IPS requirements.

IGIS is an exempt agency for the purposes of FOI Act and as such the IPS does not apply.

Indexed file lists were published on IGIS’s website in the reporting period in accordance with the Senate Continuing Order for Indexed File Lists (Harradine Order).